Eric Fox <eric@fox.phoenix.az.us> writes:

> On Wed, 4 Aug 1999, Mike Cheponis wrote:
> > 
> > I did the "rule of thumb" which is that swap space = actual RAM, or 4 MB.
> > 
> > I didn't see any particular comment in the install.html document saying
> > that swap needed to be some particular size, but apparently, it needs to be
> > somewhat greater than 4 MB.
> > 
> 
> Hmmm... I was under the impression that the general rule of thumb for swap
> was 1.5 to 2 times your actual RAM.  For low RAM systems, I wouldn't use
> any less than twice your RAM.

That rule is a relic from the old vm design of 4.3BSD and before.
It's totally irrelevant now.  In NetBSD, all you do is liberally
estimate what your memory needs are going to be and subtract the
amount of RAM you have.  The result is the minimum amount of swap
space you should give yourself.

-- 
Mirian Crzig Lennox                                Systems Anarchist
              Invest in America -- buy a Congressman!